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Do I need to pre-soak wheat germ?

January 27, 2010 - 9:12am

celestica

Do I need to pre-soak wheat germ?

I am mixing in some wheat germ into Hamelman's 5 grain au levain. Should I add it to the presoaked grains mix and let it soak o/n or should I just add some to the wheat flour mix then reduce flour measurement.

When the dough is all mixed together I will do a 6 hour rise then retard o/n before baking. I am not using yeast but just starter to raise the bread.

This bread is so good I'll be making it in perpetuity. This time I put the germ in the flour, next time I'll soak it. I thought it might get a little gummy overnight due to it's lightweight texture. We shall see.

I've added regular wheat germ to a direct dough with no soaking, no problem. I do like the flavor of the toasted wheat germ better. Nice and nutty. The raw stuff tastes grassy to me, which is not altogether bad either.

I add 10 g of toasted wheat germ after my initial mixing (408g fl, 283w, 62g 100%starter). I wait 5 min, then add in the wheat germ, using it as one would use flour to keep the dough from sticking to my hands and board. Works fine.

My question is when calculating the hydration (for reference only), should I add the 10g to the 408g fl when doing the calculation?

bread enhancers ever invented by a Fresh Loafian - Toad,de.b For some reason they are called Toadies! Wheat germ, bran and sifted middlings from home milled flour are dry toasted in a pan over medium low heat until nicely browned - not horribly burnt:-)

Since they are already ground all you have to do is pop them in the autolyse or dough flour and count them as flour for hydration. Toad doesn't like hard bits in his crumb so soaking for a couple of hours is just perfect!

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